Wednesday morning, the dusty, cobwebbed fax machines in university athletics offices across our nation will rattle and hum to life, as National Letters of Intent from the top talent of the 2012 men's basketball recruiting class stream in.

So. Where's the blue-chip? The can't-miss? The sure-thing? Where is he?

If this verbally-declared group ends up being the total 2012 class, it would be the first year since 2005 that Michigan State hasn't landed at least a top-70 Rivals.com nationally ranked player.

(It's important to note here that the Spartans are still very much in the running -- at least of the time of writing this post -- for the services of Indianapolis' Gary Harris, the No. 3 shooting guard and No. 25 overall player in the class of 2012. Harris just made an official visit to East Lansing last weekend, and still hasn't announced. Harris' addition would give Michigan State a top-25 nationally-ranked recruit in four of the past five classes; a marked uptick for the Spartans of late. It's also important to note that these Rivals.com rankings are based entirely in the subjective.)

To either the befuddlement or ecstasy of Spartan fans, though, this is a stereotypical, bedrock Tom Izzo recruiting class. It's driven by need, not personality or profile. The players are regional, not national like a Duke, North Carolina or Kansas. It's also largely composed of public school kids, not post-12th-grade-non-qualifier-academy types, junior-college transfers or private school standouts.

It's very workmanlike, in a sense. If all goes to plan -- and there's no guarantee that it will ( Draymond Green was ranked No. 122 by Rivals.com in his recruiting class and that worked out pretty well) -- Kaminski will be your floor-stretching forward, who can shoot mid-range from within a system. He's your smaller Goran Suton.

Valentine will be a jack-of-all-trades, an Alan Anderson if you will.

Costello will be your garbage man. Big Ten opponents and student sections will hate and revile Costello with the fire of a thousand angry suns. It's a group of players that were composed to complement one another, based on need.

This assessment of Izzo's recruiting tactics, or lack-thereof, is being viewed by some from the standpoint of the covetous neighbor.

Last week, Michigan and John Beilein landed a verbal commitment from Mitch McGary, the top center of the 2012 recruiting class and the Rivals.com No. 3 player overall.

McGary is 6-foot-10 and can essentially do it all. He's from Indiana originally, but plays for a private school in New Hampshire. There are probably a hundred reasons why McGary chose Michigan, and it was never a decision that pitted Beilein vs. Izzo or Wolverines vs. Spartans.

But, in the word of an Internet generation, still. Where is Michigan State's top 10 recruit? The last time Izzo recruited a talent of McGary's notoriety it was Shannon Brown. Brown was the No. 1 shooting guard in his class, and No. 3 player overall. He wasn't as NBA-ready as McGary is, but Brown was still the most athletic person on the court nearly every game he played.

Well, in the second word of an Internet generation, because. Michigan State doesn't need a top-flight recruit every season. The Spartans don't target one-and-done talent like Kentucky or Memphis, or anywhere else that John Calipari has coached. It just isn't how the program is built, so the expectations needn't be there. Play four years, and you'll play in a Final Four. That's Izzo's sales pitch. It's Schembechlerian in its efficacy.

Nor do the Spartans have any urgent need to recruit nationally. Izzo himself has staunchly remained Midwest-only during most of his time in East Lansing. With the exception of two overseas players, the only Spartan recruits outside of the Midwest in the past ten years were Chris Allen (2007 recruiting class, Lawrenceville, Ga.) and Maurice Joseph (2005 recruiting class, Quebec). Neither Allen nor Joseph finished their eligibility with Michigan State, though it's entirely unfair to suggest that a lack of Midwestern roots is the direct causation. Izzo just doesn't look that far out of his own backyard.

And really, the last time the Spartans took a gamble on a private school standout player? (Think in terms of a school like Findlay Prep in Henderson, Nev., which churns out nothing but blue chips to schools across the nation.) Maybe...never?

Brandon Wood could be considered such an experiment, as he's a fifth-year player exhausting his remaining year of eligibility with the Spartans this season. Junior college transfer Rashi Johnson never panned out, though his addition was a bit of a panic move to replace early-departure Marcus Taylor. But really, the Spartans don't tangle with those pipeline schools and teams.

So standing on the threshold of another letter-signing period, the Spartans are looking ho-hum with the 2012 recruits. Perhaps it was engineered as such. Unless, of course, Gary Harris decides to commit and entirely derail this rationalization for low-ranked recruits. Which, of course, he would be entirely welcome to do.